Tribal Disenrollment In Indian Country Today is an IMMORAL Abuse of Tribal SovereigntyCORRUPT Councils Wield Sovereignty As a CLUB to BEAT the Weak and Destroy Native American Civil Rights in the Process

Friday, May 14, 2010

CA Senator Rod Wright to Introduce Online Poker

A prominent California legislator is set to deliver a new intrastate online poker bill by the end of the month, and he has defied tribal interests to sue if they believe their sovereignty is infringed by the measure.

Speaking at the Global iGaming Summit and Expo (GiGSE) in Montreal yesterday, Senator Rod Wright of Inglewood, CA., announced his intention to debut a measure that would propose the legalisation of an intrastate poker system in California within the next two weeks, but the veteran lawmaker acknowledged there would be conflict over the bill.

Tribes want YOUR computer to be considered a "Gaming Machine" and in violation of compacts. That being the case, should tribes be allowed to use computers? Tribes like Pechanga, Picayune Reddint et al, have proven it's about greed. Let's get gaming money back into our state where it's needed.

I know this has been asked before and Im sorry to ask again..but am getting ready to write some politicos and wanted my facts straight....is the per capita monies exempt from State income tax if you live on the res?....and what about sales tax(like cars, boats etc?).. all I see is fancy cars coming off that Pechanga reservation...do they pay sales taxon those?....nothing will get the general public more into your cause like finding out the tax free status the tribe enjoys....this is huge amounts of money a month that the State could and SHOULD get taxes on...thanks for your help!!

Yes, tribal members who live on the Rez don't pay state income tax on their per capita income but it is a myth that they don't pay state sales and other taxes from items and services off of the Rez and they would be required to pay state income tax on other income.

Of course everyone pays federal income tax on per capita living on the Rez or not.

Your getting the picture. Yes there is a great amount of fraud to the State Tax Board. Most from the Tribe do not live here on the Rez but their shell house that you speak of is a mail box located across the street from their Tribal Gov. Bldg!!!

Big Cove Representative Theresa McCoy said the audit can’t be considered complete until the council acts on the findings of the consulting firm that conducted the study.

“The process included the removal of the names of persons who do not meet the criteria for enrollment when they were enrolled, so to me, the enrollment audit is not complete,” McCoy said. “The paperwork is, the findings are, but the audit is not.”

While the enrollment audit was approved by a vote of tribal members in 2002, it was not until 2006 that the Falmouth Institute, an outside consulting firm, began its work. The Tribal Council is scheduled to vote on the policies and procedures it will use to enforce the results at its June meeting and the process could be complete as early as September.

The painstaking and lengthy audit has led some sitting council members to push for the use of DNA testing in the future.

“Let’s start doing DNA. We’ve got that technology, and we need to utilize it. Instead of putting people on that aren’t supposed to be,” said Snowbird Representative Diamond Brown.

The tribe has enrolled 157 new members, mostly infants, since last June. At its meeting earlier this month, the Tribal Council voted to pass an amendment that would prevent any new members, except those ages 0 to 3 and 18 to 19, to enroll until the audit process is complete.

One of the major issues concerning the tribe’s rolls centers on the right to per capita payments. Every tribal member gets two checks a year as a share of casino revenue. It amounts to about $8,000 a year. Per capita payments will be released to members on June 1.

Snowbird Representative Adam Wachacha said a complete enrollment audit and DNA testing were the only ways to save the tribe from repeating the painstaking review process again in the future.

“The people want the rolls to be cleaned up and unless we fix the process which we’re at, 20 years from now we’ll be in the same boat we are in now,” Wachacha said.

Hawk Brown, an 18-year-old enrolled member from Painttown, said DNA testing could make for painful realizations for some families.

“Everybody’s got skeletons in their closets. But if we want to clean this up, the people voted on it and that’s what they want to do,” Brown said. “Them things will have to brought out. Them things will have to be brought out in my own family.”